Painball FactX #5: The First Female to Play Paintball

If you were asked to name a few female paintball players you’d probably come up with names like Keely Watson, Bea Youngs, and maybe Karen Barber if you’re old school. But if you’re REALLY old school you might know that the first female to play paintball was none other than Governor George Wallace’s wife, Cornelia Wallace. The setting was Wilcox County, Alabama—this was Ronnie Simpkins’ territory and along with Gurnsey and Gaines, Simpkins brought a bunch of friends to this game. This was not just a “game” however. The purpose of this one was to see how much interest there would be in a commercial version of the first game played. Gurnsey, Gaines and Noel had already begun what would soon after become the National Survival Game. On the way to Alabama Gurnsey presented Gaines and Noel with the idea to run this event in a team format. He thought this would be the best way to market the game. He was outvoted by Gaines and Noel at first, but eventually they did play five-man teams games which were a huge hit with the players.